Earthquake in Peru

[pll]

I don't know if anyone in this forum has been following the news on the earthquake in Peru last Wednesday -- I'm from Lima and all my family is there (all safe), hence my interest.

The epicenter of this magnitude 8 earthquake was about 90 miles southwest of Lima (in the Pacific Ocean), and smaller towns in front of the epicenter were most affected: around 500 dead, more than a 1000 injured, and thousands of people homeless. In one town, Pisco (a popular tourism destination because it is minutes away from a national natural and wildlife reserve, Paracas), some estimates put damaged buildings between 70 and 90% of all structures in the town.

I cannot get over how long this quake was. Some video clips of the quake posted in YouTube:

• Security cameras in stores
• In an office
• In the 8th floor of an apartment building - this clip was shot by a reporting team that was on assignment to interview the head of Lima's Elvis fan club.

There are some efforts in the US to collect donations, including Peru's Embassy and consulates.